Alan Christopher Whitman

     The Sheriff's Office has arrested a Mountain Home man, 30 year old ALAN CHRISTOPHER WHITMAN, on several charges after receiving a complaint that he had shot another man in the leg with a handgun. 

     At approximately 2:17 AM this morning, June 2nd, the Sheriff's Office was notified by Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) in Mountain Home that a man had come to the emergency room with a gunshot wound.    The victim, a 21 year old man from Mountain Home, told deputies that he had received a message from WHITMAN stating he needed to speak with him about a matter.  WHITMAN went to the victim's house and picked him up.  They then went to an apartment complex and picked up a female to give her a ride, dropping her off at a motel.  After dropping her off, WHITMAN told the victim he needed to discuss a "rumor" concerning the victim and a different woman.  The victim denied the rumor, and he and WHITMAN continued driving around Mountain Home.  They stopped at a residence on 16th street, where WHITMAN got out, went inside, and obtained a handgun.  They left the residence and continued driving to the area of Old Arkana Road.

     After turning on Old Arkana Road, WHITMAN allegedly told the victim that he was going to ask him some questions and that the victim's life depended on how he answered.   WHITMAN pulled over near a closed business on Old Arkana Road and ordered the victim to get out of the truck.  WHITMAN was then said to have brandished a .22 caliber revolver, and he then shot the victim once in the right leg.  WHITMAN then drove away from the scene.  The victim managed to place a call to a relative to be picked up and then went to BRMC for treatment.  His injury was found not to be life threatening.

     Later this morning Sheriff's Investigators were able to locate WHITMAN and his vehicle in the area of Nubbin Ridge Road.  The firearm was recovered from WHITMAN'S vehicle.  One round was found to have been discharged from the revolver.  WHITMAN was found to be a convicted felon and thereby prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.  WHITMAN, a probationer with Arkansas Community Corrections, was arrested and taken to the Sheriff's Office for further investigation.  WHITMAN alleged that the handgun belonged to the victim and that the victim had shot himself in the leg.  A citizen later saw WHITMAN, who is known to her, on the Sheriff's Office inmate roster.  After she saw the roster, she went looking for her handgun and discovered that it was missing.  The woman lives on 16th Street and gave a description of her handgun.  The description was that of the handgun seized from WHITMAN'S vehicle.

      After Investigators conferred with the Prosecuting Attorney, ALAN CHRISTOPHER WHITMAN was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on charges of:

Unauthorized Use of Another Person's Property to Facilitate A Crime - Felony
Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree - Felony
Battery in the First Degree - Felony
Probation Violation - Felony

     He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond on the criminal charges and without bond on the probation violation hold.  WHITMAN will appear before the Circuit Court to answer on June 18th.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff